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Any notes on the staves slightly above and below. I have no problem with. between B2 and F6, I have few problems with. In fact I'm rather amazed at how it just clicked into my head as I was stumbling around this occassionally having to glance at the display on my DP.

What I have problem with is notes below B2 and above F6 on sheet music. For the odd note here and there it isn't much of a problem as I can simply remember the note. But for other pieces where 8VA is not used I have to stop figure out the note usually by counting the ledger lines under or above it, then play the note. Almost exactly how I used to read notes on the staves themselves.

I think it is the lack of reference I know I use for the notes on the stave.

I have this problem too, but I think it's just a matter of practise. These notes may not appear in music as much as others, so without sufficient practise it's hard to recognize. Stopping to count the lines clearly isn't an option, but it should be possible to see at a glance eventually. It might also do to just recognize intervals. G6 is easy enough to recognize after you've just played F6!

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David Lanz - Dark HorseYiruma - River Flows In You

If it is in fact sight-reading that you're talking about, your approach to interpreting different notes should be done by reading intervals from prior notes and not actually "note-reading" (looking at the note and having to interpret it as a, b, d, f#, etc.). Reading "intervalically" in this way can be done with intervals of up to [and beyond] ninths (ex. bottom staff line to top staff line).

I think encountering notes as high as F6 (4 spaces above top staff line) or as low as B2 either without 8va and 8vb signs, respectively, or without the notes either being played as octaves (the connected notes being inside the grand staff and easy to read) or within a ninth or so of another note in the staff from which to read intervalically would be extremely unlikely.